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Title: Common Consciousness Author: Uchiyama GudĹŤ Date: 1911 Language: en Topics: Japan, Japanese anarchism, Buddhism, Communalism Source: https://noselvesnomasters.wordpress.com/2021/07/23/common-consciousness-heibon-no-jikaku-by-uchiyama-gudo/ Notes: Translated by Fabio Rambelli in Zen Anarchism: The Egalitarian Dharma of Uchiyama Gudo (2013)
What is common consciousness? Before I answer to this, let me try to
talk a bit about consciousness.
Consciousness means to become aware of something by oneself. This, in
turn, does not mean to discover something that others do not know, nor
does it mean that one should not learn from others. To become aware of
something by oneself refers to things, no matter whether learned from
others or discovered by oneself, that one digests deeply in one’s mind
and makes one’s own. Moreover, if we distinguish consciousness in terms
of social class, we come up with several differences. The consciousness
of a priest is not the same as that of a politician. The consciousness
of a priest is also probably different from that of a philosopher. In
fact, even priests, depending on their geographic location and
historical period, cannot be said to all be the same.
Thus, there are myriad differences in consciousness, depending on the
person, time, and place; however, there must be something that is common
to them all. There must be something that is at stake for all of them,
as they all live in this world. The learned and the uneducated, the
noble and the lowly, the rich and the poor – there is something they
must become conscious of through cooperation. This is what I call
“common consciousness”.
The development of an individual and the development of a nation can be
considered to be the same process. For example, when an individual is
still a child, all of its interests depend exclusively on those of its
father, elder brother, and the elders. But when one grows up, he will
not follow blindly his father or elder brother against his own will; in
other words, he will act in a conscious way. In the same fashion, when a
nation is in its infancy, people are subjugated to other people: those
of great strength, vast knowledge, and immense wealth. However, when
members of a society advance to the point of acquiring consciousness of
their ability to become free, all individuals begin to participate in
politics, from the village on up to the state. At first, we the people
are taught that our existence depends on the sovereign, and we accept
this idea blindly, but eventually, we acquire consciousness that the
government is an organism working for us, the people. People then become
able to advocate democracy.
I don’t know what the consciousness of a priest or a scholar is, but for
those of us who are satisfied with the consciousness of common people,
we think that it is enough if each individual among the people will
acquire consciousness to this extent. Therefore, in the following
chapters, I will discuss common people’s consciousness.
If we look at the long history of the human race, we find that in the
beginning, humans lived contented with the fruits given to them by
nature, or on fish, birds, and animals; to protect themselves from the
weather, they could do nothing but take shelter under trees or in caves.
They were in this condition for a long time. However, the human race has
as its progenitor a mysterious holy spirit that makes us progress
without pause until we reach the ultimate. Our progress may be as slow
as the steps of a cow, but we have passed down that immortal spirit to
our sons and grandsons, and until now we have been struggling against
the immense power of nature. Because of that struggle, today we have
agriculture, animal husbandry, and industries that satisfy our desires
for clothing, food, and dwelling; for our spiritual dimension, there are
schools, churches, and books for the continuous improvement and progress
of our spirit.
But our spirit is not satisfied with all this and, day and night, it
continues fighting against our external circumstances. How long must we
keep struggling before we can stop? There is no simple answer to that.
However, there is something we do know. If we look at the traces left by
our ancestors, and if we observe the spirit carried by the blood
coursing through our arteries, there we hear the incessant sound
“freedom, freedom.” Yes, our ancestors, consciously or unconsciously,
have been struggling for this freedom, and since we share the very same
spirit, we too must keep on fighting until victory, no matter ow strong
nature’s hardships and how cruel the ruler’s despotism.
What is the freedom we will achieve after this struggle? To put it
simply, it is being able to always act according to one’s will, without
ever being obstructed or bothered by anyone. That is, it means to always
respect one’s own will while at the same time respecting the will of the
others, and to live in peace. In short, the final goal of the human race
is independence and mutual aid, the realization of freedom, equality,
and fraternity. If we look at the evolution of politics, law, religion,
and ethics, they have been developing from heteronomy toward autonomy;
thus after attaining self-governance the people will use their eventual
individual surpluses to compensate for other’s inefficiencies. This is
natural evolution, and this is also the ultimate ideal of life. Everyone
should fight and strive toward this goal.
Many seem to doubt that these ideas will improve the lot of all people.
The doubters stress that human beings are just a kind of animal; their
animal nature, which forces them to ignore others in order to satisfy
their own desires, cannot be eliminated, as it is based in our bodies.
However, as in the old verse, “take the weeds from the paddy field, and
they will become fertilizer,” with the development of the spirit, the
effort toward satisfying one’s endless desires will be perceived as
inferior to enjoying life together with all others.
How do we know this? Because many of our ancestors have said so. As in
the saying, “eliminate selfishness and act with benevolence,” you all
know many people who have saved their fellows from hardship even at the
cost of their own precious lives. Besides, aren’t there in the army
today hundreds of thousands of young people in the prime of their youth
from all over the country, ready to give their lives at any time for
their nation?
When we think about all these facts, we understand that we human beings
are not like cows or horses; we are not made to live subjected to
authoritarian rule but instead need to be independent and free to act as
we choose. This is what we call the individual’s common consciousness.
No matter how well the government develops, no matter how kindly public
officials lead us, they will never be able to satisfy our ideal. The
more complicated the government becomes, the more corrupt it gets. Isn’t
it the same for tribunals? The criminal should repent autonomously and
restrain himself. no matter how well the trial has been conducted, no
one will know the truth better than the criminal. In particular, there
is nothing more dangerous than to pass judgment on the basis of
fragmentary proof. Today’s government and legal system cannot function
without ignoring human personality. This is part of the evolutionary
process, and our consciousness must fight against it.
People commonly say that women differ from men, in that they don’t need
to be explicitly taught the art of living; for them, they say, it’s
enough to keep the house in order and raise their children. But the
people who think this are very wrong. Especially today, with a huge gap
between rich and poor due to the system of private ownership, this
argument is profoundly mistaken. Women are not men’s belongings. When
husband and wife make a family together, the man is mainly responsible
for securing the means of livelihood, while the woman, as his assistant,
keeps order at home. This may be good as a method for division of labor;
however, life is impermanent. The wife doesn’t know when and for what
reason she might be separated from her husband. When that happens, she,
who had been making a living out of her husband’s patrimony, should be
able to live off of her own work without any inconvenience. Today, many
people, even women, work. Especially women who are left alone with small
children, when the time comes to give the children an education, if the
women have no jobs they find themselves in deep desperation. one could
perhaps say that these women should remarry, but then the tragedy of
life would only repeat itself.
Someone could say that if we take ten people, all ten would disagree
with what I just said. Indeed, that is true. One does not have to learn
a profession just in anticipation of separation from one’s husband.
Since men and women are equal as individuals, they must work in order to
raise their children and support their parents. Thus, women must also
work. Theirs should not be a dependent and submissive work as befitting
someone who belongs to a man; instead, women should learn an independent
profession. There seem to be many contrary opinions to this. Old habits
in particular will not make it easy to realize our ideas, but
nonetheless, we should make up our minds and strive to achieve them.
We human beings, firmly based in this consciousness, should reflect on
our present condition. Then, in the same way as we don’t regret giving
up our life for the state, we should keep fighting for freedom.
We human beings are all different, and some of us will be far from
attaining such consciousness; others will be closer to it. Others still,
having overcome this common consciousness, might be waiting at a loftier
dimension. In any case, everyone should advance to this stage. Even
though you are like travelers at dusk at the foot of a mountain, you
should not be discouraged, because you will certainly advance step by
step toward the top of that mountain called consciousness. Isn’t it so?
Anyone who looks attentively at human history will understand that all
people, the wise and the fool, and also the poor, are heading toward the
shore of freedom, each in their own way.
Thus, from the standpoint of such consciousness, how shall each of us
human beings act? First of all, the adults, men and women, who are able
to leave their fathers and elder brothers and live independently should
take care of their own lives autonomously. When one’s individual desire
clashes with someone else’s, they should talk with each other and make
efforts to accommodate one another. In other words, one should improve
upon the habit of giving to others what one desires for oneself. Then,
no matter how many social groups will have been formed, it will be
possible to live in peace, each developing in full one’s characteristics
without hurting the others.
The family, the state, the entire world: they are all aggregations of
individuals, and if each individual simply lived and acted according to
pure-hearted kindness – that is, with a spirit of independence and
freedom, the will to help the weak, and caring for one’s neighbor – we
would all be able to live a peaceful and perfect collective life. We
human beings should develop our spirit of independence and solidarity
and fight against those who oppose this, even at the risk of our own
lives.
The family is the social group closest to the individual, and if it were
composed only of individuals who have acquired consciousness, it would
be possible to get closer to freedom day by day, smoothly and without
problems. However, the family is not composed of only individuals who
have acquired consciousness. There may be a grandfather and grandmother
who were born during the feudal age, there may be a wife who comes from
a background with different habits from those of her husband’s family,
and there may be children born later. A family is a group composed of
all these people. The head of the household, its center, must make a
very strong effort to bring the light of freedom to all.
First of all, the head of the household who has acquired consciousness
should act every day with the intention to teach the other family
members – his parents, grandparents, sisters, and wife. The householder
with a family of three or five should, as a matter of fact, always eat
his three daily meals with his family; except when circumstances prevent
him from doing so, he should avoid eating elsewhere. It won’t be easy to
do, but it is the duty of each single head of household to keep the good
custom of taking meals together with his family. In addition, he should
prepare soft food especially for the elders; everyone should put the
elders first in accordance with the customs to treat elders with
respect.
When there are guests, it is particularly important to have meals
together with one’s family. There may be cases in which this is
inconvenient, and some people might think that this is a form of
disrespect toward the guests. However, the householder who has acquired
the consciousness that one should abandon self-conceit and share joys
and sorrows with one’s family, should act in this way and break old
customs. In an ordinary family, difficulties arise from financial
problems. In the case of a guest requiring the extraordinary expenditure
of 50 sen, the householder who has attained consciousness should use
those 50 sen, calmly and unashamedly, for a banquet for the whole family
[and not only for the guest]. If you act in this way, you can easily
imagine the happiness you will bring to your family life.
It goes without saying that the householder who has acquired
consciousness should never ever make use of harmful food and drinks.
Harmful substances are things such as sake and tobacco.
In addition to sharing food, clothing, and shelter impartially, and
distributing chores among the family members according to their
abilities, there should be a home economics meeting once a week or once
a month, where family concerns should be discussed among all family
members under the coordination of the head of the family. In this way,
regardless of the family’s wealth or poverty, a family will be a little
paradise.
Next, when children are born, from when they wear diapers they are
raised by the mothers, but the head of the family who has acquired
consciousness should not neglect his duties toward the children. As they
say, “the soul of a three-year-old child attains one hundred years.”
Accordingly, one should not forget to infuse one’s own spirit that has
acquired consciousness from the time of a child’s infancy. Toward that
goal, while taking good care to protect the child, one should try to
raise the child in the habit of acting as much as possible in its own
way. Concerning children’s education and choice of profession, parents
should advise them upon considering their qualities, but should never
force something upon them. When the time comes for one’s son to choose a
wife, also in this case parents should respect his freedom; they should
instruct him to fight against freedom’s enemies.
The greatest troubles for a family come not from wife, siblings, or
children, but from one’s parents and grandparents, who are from a
different era. It is not easy to influence people who hold on to a fixed
way of thinking and who have kept old customs for many years. The head
of the household should help them acquire consciousness by holding
formal conversations with them during family gatherings at least once a
week. Since truth will eventually triumph one day, the light of freedom
will doubtlessly and without fail illuminate the whole family and bestow
its blessings upon all.
Villages, towns, and cities are the smallest organizations among local
governments. In particular, the inhabitants of towns rather than cities,
and those of villages rather than towns [ have had close] human
relations since the time of their ancestors, and these are the most
intimate communities after the family. There are even villages composed
of one extended family; if we look at their ancestors we find out that
many of them come from either the same family or are related to one
single family. Since a village is an extended family, one should expect
to find in it no large differences of rank, and wealth as appropriate to
the most harmonious paradise of peace; however, present conditions
prevent it from being so.
The cause for this is vainglory [excessive vanity or pride], promoted as
the most important aspect of our society; this consists of ignoring the
others and trying to be successful alone. Another cause, I believe, is
the enormous influence of the system of private property.
In the distant past, land, the most important asset in a village, was
all held in common. With population growth, since land does not
increase, the system of private property was introduced. At the
beginning, each individual was allotted the same amount of land, but
since human life keeps changing year after year, generation after
generation, natural disasters and individual predispositions over a long
time resulted sometimes in family dispersion. Then, some people took
advantage of other people’s misfortune and tried to satisfy their own
desire. This is how differences in wealth originated, even in a village
in which at the beginning everyone was equal; this situation still
continues today.
Since material conditions (food, clothing, and shelter) have a great
influence in human life, the gap separating the rich and the poor, which
is largely related to such material conditions, necessarily affects the
constitution and character of each individual. Even in minor things, the
rich call the poor filthy and vulgar: just talking with them is
polluting. The poor, on their part, point to the pompous manners of the
rich and slander them behind their backs by saying that the rich are
full of hot air and are unable to produce even one single grain of rice,
that money doesn’t last forever, and that they cannot do how they please
all the time just because they have money.
Even under today’s system of local autonomy, in the same village there
are those who enjoy civil rights and those who don’t. Those with civil
rights can participate in the administration of the village, but those
without them are not allowed such participation. Even among those who
enjoy civil rights, there are distinctions in the rights to which they
are entitled, as in the electorate of first and second class. In short,
even in local administration, there are three kinds of differences among
people of the same village. In addition, we cannot fathom the damages
inflicted upon the personality of school-children because of differences
in wealth; the same is true about participation in village rituals.
In other words, you would expect that, as inhabitants of the same
village, people would have mutual interactions of the most intimate and
peaceful nature, but that is not the case, primarily because of the
distinctions between the rich and the poor; and what makes such
distinctions even more important is the system of private property.
How can we redress this situation? To put it bluntly, since it would be
difficult to abolish the present system of private property and replace
it with collectivization, we should at first urge the persons of
influence to build many public facilities and let all villagers enjoy
them.
The mayor who governs the village should certainly increase the
collective resources and actively establish institutions of compulsory
education such as elementary schools, in order to promote [among
villagers] knowledge [useful] to increase the village’s economic
production. He should also establish municipal and trade-union
hospitals, public hygiene facilities not only limited to [treatment of]
contagious diseases, that are free for all patients from the village.
Next, he should establish a town hall at the center of the village,
where ceremonies can be performed, where the residents of the village
can have friendly exchanges: meetings of senior citizens, young people,
married women, young girls, etc. Expenses for these activities should
all be drawn from public funds, so as to make participation in these
gatherings possible irrespective of individual wealth.
It goes without saying the prohibition of harmful drinks and food should
be upheld in the same way as in families who have acquired
consciousness. No matter how well organized the village government, if
it allows harmful habits such as sake, tobacco, and gambling, it risks
spoiling everything despite having put so much effort into this.
Residents of cities, towns, and villages should acquire essentially the
same consciousness, but since there are great differences in wealth and
status, the leaders should have the highest consciousness and make the
strongest effort, otherwise it will be difficult to attain the level of
consciousness necessary in cities and towns. To that purpose, the mayors
and the members of municipal assemblies should exercise the spirit of
public interest, respect the individuality of each resident, and
establish adequate public facilities. They should be especially generous
with the creation of professional schools that form the basis of
independent economic activity for men and women. They should strive to
increase the fundamental assets (common wealth) of urban residents so
that they can enjoy a peaceful life and develop refined tastes.
What is the industrial sector? Before I talk about this, it is perhaps
necessary to outline the development of industry.. Early modern
industrial development began in an age in which industry was a family
economic activity, and then shifted to the age of handicraft. Later it
further evolved into the present age of corporate industry.
It is possible to distinguish two kinds of corporate industry. The first
is house industry; the second is factory industry. Now, is all industry
part of corporate industry? Not necessarily. If we fill a box with
soybeans, we cannot add more soybeans to it, but there is still some
room for millet or sesame; in the same way, even though great corporate
industry is becoming prominent, family industry and handicraft still
exist. In general, all everyday commodities such as food, shelter, and
clothing – commodities necessary to human life – in particular have come
to be produced by large factories because of what we could consider,
from the point of economic evolution, a natural law. Therefore, we
should understand that what we call industry consciousness only refers
to large factories.
A society that has acquired consciousness needs to be ordered in a
well-regulated fashion, and the method to realize this consists first in
hygiene [necessities], second, in convenience, and third, in ornaments
[luxuries], all of which should be evenly universalized. Since the
industrial sector supplies commodities needed by society, industry
should be organized according to the same method.
First, it is obvious that each local area should operate its
characteristic and most convenient industries according to general
estimates of supply and demand in the entire world, but it is natural
that manufacturing should be carried out as close as possible to the
place of production of the raw materials. Today’s industrial sector is
based on a nation’s economy, and the state aims for self-sufficiency; to
that purpose, it enforces protectionist and tariff policies and engages
in international competition. As I see it, this is a ridiculous policy,
and even though it might be unavoidable as a step in the process towards
the acquisition of consciousness, I believe that this useless and
harmful international competition should be abolished immediately. These
policies cause immeasurable damage to our project to build a paradise.
The first measure that is necessary to carry out this program is to
establish a worldwide labor union for each factory in the same sector
(cotton mills, textile factories, etc.); after estimating the demand for
the year, production will be distributed to each factory, which will
have to provide [its share of the] supply. Today’s system of private
property’s exclusive focus on personal interest is a problem, but the
entire industrial world ends up pursuing only this.
An opponent might say that this would create a huge monopoly that would
control the means of production, with the result that the buyer would be
charged unfairly high prices. Certainly, from the perspective of the
present system, this is perhaps not an unreasonable concern. This is why
we emphasize shared ownership of the means of production. Aside from art
and luxury items, necessary commodities such as clothing, food, and
shelter, which are indispensable to everyone, should all be supplied by
communal factories. This is the bottom line.
This is the level of consciousness that we have to attain and we should
act with this as our compass. Those who try to stop us should be wiped
away.
As for the method itself, it is conceivable that both capitalists and
workers who have acquired consciousness will find the necessary clues
and start the whole process.
The capitalist who has acquired consciousness will reject the old crime
of living out of his capital and will come to realize that all human
beings must secure their clothing and food through their own labor –
this is what the old sages called paradise or the land of the gods.
After making his own capital available without compensation to all as a
resource for livelihood, he will think of how to best employ his talent
and labor in order to realize such a paradise as soon be possible
What should the workers who have acquired consciousness do? Each of them
should master a technique they like and, in accordance with their
natural disposition, they should strive to master a technique that they
like and, in accordance with their natural disposition, they should
strive to make the despotic capitalists feel remorse and amend their
ways. In order to do so, they should strengthen the unity of the
workers. Each [worker] should make contributions, and require the
capitalists to also make contributions, [to a common relief fund] in
order to neutralize as much as possible the effects of both natural and
human-caused disasters.
They should establish collective scholastic institutions so that the
children of the workers can more easily receive an education. Moreover,
a method of insurance should be devised in order to protect the elderly
and those affected by incurable diseases; collective hospitals should be
established and made available to all in cases of emergency. Collective
clubs (recreational organizations) should be established so that the
tastes and the knowledge [of the workers] can be improved and developed.
Furthermore, factories should turn into collective properties of all the
workers, thereby realizing democracy in the industrial sector; this is
the first step toward the realization of paradise.
I’m just listing these things, but the path leading us there has
mountains and valleys, and they will not let us walk through it easily.
Many comrades will have to shed their blood along the way. The workers
who have acquired consciousness should take the lead and try out this
process in advance.
Those who spend their lives, no matter how long, without acquiring
consciousness, and those who have acquired consciousness but just follow
their whims without [putting their consciousness into] action, are
destined to enter into annihilation; those who act in accordance with
their consciousness, even if they should die when they are just seven
years old, will achieve eternal life. The saying by Confucius, “if one
heard the Way in the morning, it is all right to die in the evening,”
refers to what I just said, because that person has been involved, even
just a little, in the realization of paradise. Conscious action also
involves many painful experiences, such as separation from one’s
parents, abandoning one’s wife and children, being misunderstood by
one’s friends. However, the fall of one individual is for the happiness
of many in society; as the saying goes, “except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit.” In this way, by overcoming many difficulties in order
to put one’s consciousness into practice, one will repeatedly bask in
one’s holy spirit as a conscious person and will be able to engage in
self-cultivation in everyday life.
Such a wholesome worker, ready to die in the struggle for paradise, is
the person most loved by god. Because of that, even the most stubborn
capitalists and the classes in power will be able to acquire
consciousness of their sins. It’s up to the worker who has acquired
consciousness to put all of his or her effort into this.
Considering the fact that agriculture originated before industry, it
would seem that agricultural consciousness should be achieved sooner
than that of industry, but in fact this is not the case, and industry
appears to be attaining consciousness ahead of agriculture. This is due
to the fact that the industrial workers come from an agricultural
background. Their motivation for becoming industrial workers is that
arable land, which is the foundation of production, is limited, but the
reproduction of the human population is limitless, so the population in
excess tends to move to the cities to become industrial workers.
Moreover, during the feudal period, when there was no freedom to migrate
like today, many second and third sons of farmers were not able to
establish their own independent family but lived all their lives with
their parents or elder brothers. Because of these circumstances, those
who move away are persons of initiative, whereas those who remain in
their villages and continue their forefather’s activities are
conservative; therefore, they are in general slower to acquire
consciousness.
However, as the sprouts of the new grass emerge underneath the snow in
the spring, even though the snow has not completely melted in the
valleys, so, following the acquisition of consciousness in the
industrial sector, the agricultural sector will also acquire
consciousness.
The acquisition of agricultural consciousness should also begin with
common ownership of the land. This will follow the acquisition of
consciousness by both landowners and tenant farmers; the landowners, in
particular, should study this in depth. No one doubts that the land
originally exists in nature; there are several legal arguments about its
becoming private property in the present time. If we consider the facts,
however, our distant ancestors originally developed this land and, as a
result of their long labor, it has become today’s cultivable land.
Accordingly, we can only conclude that, as a matter of principle,
today’s landowner’s exclusive property of the land and their request of
half of the harvest are great crimes.
Even though opponents argue that the present landowners have bought
their land at considerable expense and therefore haven’t committed any
wrong, purchasing the land itself was still wrong. If we think that this
was a lawful action, then buying and selling stolen property should also
be considered lawful. Furthermore, the very money used for that purchase
is the accumulation of labor, and much capital originates from stealing
the accumulation of honest labor. In other words, it is like power
squeezing the blood out of the weak. If landowners wish to enter the
realm of consciousness and bask in the happiness of eternal life, they
should not try these twisted arguments.
To put it bluntly, everyone should make a living through one’s work.
Private property of the land and acquisition of clothing and food
through stealing other’s labor leads to eternal extinction. Acquiring
consciousness of this situation, one should turn the land into common
property and, accordingly, all workers should be entitled to the harvest
of their own work. Each worker should acquire clothing and food
according to their talent and effort, and live peacefully in this
paradise of happiness.
Next, the agricultural workers, in view of the above truth, should make
the landowners look into their own conscience, and for that purpose, the
method should be…
[This incomplete manuscript was returned to Gudo’s relatives after his
execution on January 24, 1911. It was most likely written in prison at
an unknown date]